I’m constantly showing y’all my fabulous room reveals, right?
Aren’t you so sick of seeing all these perfectly staged rooms that look like the cleaning lady just swooped through and shined the floors?
Good!
Because I decided it was time to show you what our living room looks like on a typical Saturday morning. And it ain’t glorious wood shined floors, a neatly vacuumed rug and freshly dusted furniture.
In fact, most of the time when the boys are home, I can’t even tell I have floors. 94.6% of the time they are covered in pillows, toys, dogs. And fire stations?
How’s that for honesty.
I think I am probably the only one that lives here that even cares about keeping this place clean. If it weren’t for me walking behind every little body, picking up after them, the house would be a disaster zone all of the time.
They are all too busy being lazy and watching Peppa Pig.
Which brings me to another point, what is it with the infatuation of Peppa Pig? Is the british accent really that amusing?
It’s sad to admit, but I’d rather watch Dora.
Not only do I often get booted from the couch…as a 5 year old takes over with his CG, Elf, iPad, blanket, and God knows what else…even the dog who is a guest at our home on occasion {my parents dog} gets booted from the dog bed.
How is that fair?
I even bought them a train table for pete’s sake!
And my question to these 4 inconsiderate mess makers…who’s gonna pick this all up? As they point to ME!
Why am I the only one in this family with a type A personality. Why, oh why.
Send back-up.
See the staged pictures here…. 😉
I have never commented, but I really enjoy reading your blog. Anyway, I think this is my favorite post to date. I have one boy (age four) and my living rooms looks just like that all the time! I don’t know why I bother with the cute little baskets for each individual toy type. Oh well…at least they are happy right? lol
Thanks for commenting! I hear ya…I try and organize those silly baskets, but it’s worthless! LOL!
Your ability to keep it real just kills me, Mandy. 🙂 Love this post!
Love you Kenz!
LOVED this post – as I sit on my computer procrastinating cleaning up my Toys R US living room and sticky kitchen!
Ewwww, I just went to bed with about 2600 tonka cars on the couch. OOPS!
Sometimes I think I’m the only person who sees the mess. I’m working on getting my 18 month old to pick up his toys at the end of the day. Otherwise it looks like Toys R Us threw up in our house.
I wish my kids were better at “clean up clean up everybody clean up”, but I sometimes feel like I’m singing to myself. GAH!
And here I thought I couldn’t love you any more than I already do! You just proved me wrong!! I love this post on so many levels and I adore you! xoxo
I heart you too Nancy!
This post is hysterical and a breath of fresh air! Thanks for being honest! Love the pictures of your little men in their most comfy state- leg up, relaxed, undies only! Feeling your pain about being type A and the only one who seems to care about a clean, picked up house.
Love this post!! Thanks for always keeping it real =)
Cheers,
Niquelle
1paperplane.blogspot.com
Did you sneak into my house and take pictures?! This is what our floors look like all the time, too! Little boys…they are a mess. {And my big boy is worse! ;)} My little guys haven’t discovered Peppa Pig yet. Maybe I’ll keep it that way! Hope you had a great weekend, Mandy!
~Abby =)
Why are the older ones the WORST?! UGH! Mine too!
Stay AWAY from Peppa Pig. Far far away. 🙂
I love love love that you showed this! I have three kids, I work full time, Plus I am trying to do this blog thing. My house is usually a disaster, and especially on Saturday morning! By Friday after work I am so exhausted and I just completely let things go. Here is the ironic part… my house was way cleaner before I started this blog. NOw, my housework time goes to blog time. Ironic, right? I took a picture of my disaster area of a bedroom just yesterday and plan to do a post about it. Oh, did I mention all three of my kids are complete pigs? Seriously,not one of them give a crap!
Girl, I am totally with ya! It’s like someone threw up in my living room EVERY single night. I mean…can’t we get at least one night a week that they don’t need to use the throw pillows to build a castle? Errr!
Oh, I forgot to mention our 13 year old dog who won’t stop peeing and pooping all over the place. That really add a little extra something special! Ha!
Oh my gosh. I was JUST telling Drew that I was going to do a REAL LIFE home tour, that showed what our house really looks like most days. haha! This is pretty much our house every day. Except for the 5 minutes after I clean it on “cleaning” day. 🙂
Way to keep it real! It makes me feel so much better that I’m not the only one who has a “real” house. I wish my house looked like your “staged” house most of the time, but its a work in {never ending} progress. But I’m one of the few lucky girls who has a Type A husband who also has OCD and ADHD. He makes me tired just watching his daily routine of sweeping, mopping, dusting, wiping and polishing 3 times a day. I’m more the Type A (minus) personality…I do it once a week.
Oh my word…I am jealous that your husband is so particular! LOL! I love my husband VERY much, but I wish he liked to pick up a little more. Haha!
Looks like my house! We could totally be friends in real life.
This is probably my favorite post ever! I love it! Bloggers often try and show the perfection in their lives…a little mess is so honest :). So funny and truthful…have a great day!
Thanks Shay! It’s fun to stage the photos for the photo shoot, but I think these pictures are much more relatable! LOL! In fact, I just went to bed with 2,600 Tonka cars on the couch. GAH!
LOVE this post! My favorite pic is the ‘get out of my way I’m watching TV!’…so the reality in my home. And yep, there’s really no point in trying to keep up. I get a little satisfaction cleaning up after everyone goes to bed…but it’s short lived!
Short lived is so my reality! LOL!
Too funny! So I have always wanted to ask you-do you love having a sectional? I am trying to decide if I want to switch to a sectional or not!
I do love my sectional!! Lots of cuddle space! 🙂
LOVE the honesty! Makes me not feel so bad 🙂
Your house looks really comfy when it’s messy. I think you should go snuggle in on the couch with them. 🙂
This is the first time I’ve noticed your beautiful double front doors. Love them!
Thanks girl!!
I was just thinking about how you mentioned a while back you were going to post something like this. Like just yesterday. Little did I know, you posted this yesterday! How ironic. You’re house still looks nice, even when it’s messy! 🙂
OMG that’s super funny!!
Your*** – Gosh I hate typos!
I am in the process of moving in with my fiance as we speak. Taking a break while shimming up a cabinet! My motto is “A place for everything & everything in it’s place.” I seem to be the only one who lives by this motto in my household. I am going from a house with me & my 8yr old girl to his house that is full already & he has 3 children ranging from 8-13. They are all slobs! I always tell my fiance that we have to be ready at a moments notice for Better Homes & Gardens to stop by for a photo shoot. You would die if you saw how it looks right now. I am going to post before & after shots on my blog at some point.
I know there’s no real way to train everyone to live by my motto, although I will try my hardest. What I need to know from you is this…where did you get that fabulous rug & what is the wall color in these photos!!!!!
Thanks!! The rug is from HomeDecorators.com and it’s Martha Stewart. I love your comment about Better Home & Gardens…LOL! That is so me!
THank GOD you’re normal! THis is a sigh of relief.
Hehe! This made me laugh!
This made me smile! Just keeping it real! (And here I am sitting amidst a pile of laundry waiting for my attention.)
Don’t even get me started on the laundry pile! LOL!
Yes, Yes…. I’m so tired of the perfect rooms. 🙂 Makes me feel like a slacker because my house isn’t spotless! I mean, man, I try to keep it clean and neat, but I can’t compete with some of those pics. Love this post!
Yes girl…those room pics are all staged! In fact, it takes a LONG time to clean up and stage the room. I prefer to just post the messy pics! Much easier! Haha!
I am the one picking up after my family also. In the last month with moving and gotten busy I have been slacking…and my husband as been able to see how much I usually do. 🙂
Keeping it real. I love it. Your house is still stunning. 🙂
This you for this post, so very very much! We all get so overwhelmed with the pressure to be perfect that we forget that no one is perfect.
LOVE it! This is my house only my boys are older. I walk in after work and there are controllers, Legos, remotes (we have so many!) the pillows that belong on the couch spread all over the living room floor. I have refused to “help” my 5-yr old and 9-yr old boys clean their room since Christmas. I can’t stand to go in there now. I’m going to have to get some gloves on and go re-decorate it to get it clean!
I love your blog! I have 3 boys and some days I swear it’s not worth picking anything up because it will just be back on the floor in 5 minutes. Happy to see it’s not just me!
I’m with everyone else in saying I love this post! My house gets so messy as the work work continues and I feel so much better knowing it doesn’t have to be perfect all the time haha thanks for keeping it real! 🙂
Team Peppa Pig…Peppa Pig!
Oh my word.. I am so glad you posted this!!! My house is a disaster and it makes me feel better about myself. 🙂
Thanks for keeping it real. I always wonder about those nice and purdy houses and then I always feel bad that mine doesn’t look put together.
I absolutely love your home and website! Welcome to my world! I only have one and couldn’t imagine three! My heart goes out to you 🙂 I try to organize as best I can, but my little Monkey tears through things like a tornado! Boys are awesome though! Wouldn’t change a thing 😉
What a great post! Makes me feel better that my house is a mess.. then again, I have no children, so its not really the same lol
Girlfriend, THIS is the best blog post I’ve ever seen! (And I’ve seen a lot of them, because I am very good at avoiding housework by saying, “I just want to look at one more blog!”) Every time I pop in to “blog-stalk” you, I sigh and think, “I don’t know how she keeps that house so gloriously wonderful with those half-naked, adorable boys running around.” Because we have two boys (ages 12 and 1 — we do like to space the age gap out at our house), and our toddler unloads EVERY cupboard and EVERY drawer and EVERY basket. And sometimes I just give up on all the chasing-him-around business and putting things away. I told my husband last night, “I think we are one more Tonka truck away from being called by ‘Hoarders’ to see if they can film us for their reality show.”
I’m still waiting for you to pop on over for coffee (I would only give you the best — straight from Starbucks, in the little white cup with the green mermaid adornment!), so that I can chat your ear off and have you begin the redecorating process of MY house! We’ll start with you saying, “Darling, please wipe the syrup off of your baby’s high chair, load these dirty dishes into your dishwasher and LET’S GET RID OF THAT WEIRD RUG Y’ALL HAVE GOT GOING ON IN HERE!”
Have a great weekend!
i love how honest this post is. now i don’t feel so bad that i have a pile of laundry-i am neglecting at the moment for some mommy time-taking over the loveseat.
I love, love, love this post! I was just thinking yesterday about why my house never looks like the ones in the magazines. It is so nice to see reality for a change… a lived in home complete with kids and pets! It’s so much better to create that warm, loving atmosphere where everybody thrives than to try for perfection all of the time. Thanks for being so honest and putting yourself out there! Even with grown kids and a hubby who works out of town, my house is frequently a disaster. It is so nice to know I’m not the only one.
I love this post!!! I wish more bloggers kept it real and showed rooms like this as well as the prettified rooms! This is how we live… One three year old, two cats, two dogs, two full time teachers. It’s crazy busy in my house.
I have to say that I miss the days of my house looking like this…..with the kids playing and toys spread everywhere. Cherish the moments regardless of how much the mess drives you nuts. They are gone faster than you think (my baby graduates high school in a month).
Thanks for post. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories!
I love that you’ve included the messy side. I’m a stay at home mom and I live for order and cleanliness. But the second the kids get home from school, a days work gets ruined faster than I can blink. I sometimes pick them up from school and kill some time so the huby can get home before us and actually see my daily work. Poor man has to come home to a train wreck most of the time. Shoes here, backpacks there. I don’t get it. Glad I’m not alone even though my house is nowhere as nice as yours. Just beautiful!
I absolutely love that you obviously love your boxer(s). I looked at them more than anything else!
I stumbled across your website and I love all your decor! Where did you get that rug in your family room?
As a mom of 4 children – soon to be five – and a dog I must say I am grateful that you included this post. I am not the best housekeeper and often feel that my home must always look like the blogs etc. but with the kids so young (my oldest is 9) and a house with constant remodeling projects occurring it is an impossible task. Thank you for showing me reality. It allowed me to tell myself it is okay to let the house be cluttered and crazy – especially by Saturday. Thank you again. Char
My boys are 18 & 16 and I have still not learned how to train them to not be slobs, much less my husband :). Lord have mercy on their future wives!
I love that you honestly let it all out there. I’m a Mom to 6 kids and 2 English Masiffs so my house is full of toys and dog hair lol I just underwent a double mastectomy and was lucky enough to have my amazing mother in law clean my house from top to bottom on top of doing my laundry along with my Mom. Now I just need to keep it up lol. Thank you for showing us all a glimpse of your life. You have a spectacular home!
So i never looked at your home tour spoof page…hillarious…IDK how you do it 3 little ones and 2 boxers!!! bless your heart.
Oh Mandy! I love this post! I just finished looking at your home tour post (probably for like the 3rd time!) and this just cracked me up!
By the way, I am LOVING listening to your podcasts! So encouraging!
<3 Hannah
Thanks Hannah!
This is WONDERFUL! I’ve got 8 kids and a husband who all point to me. What is with this? : ) You better believe I point right back! When you figure out where to send those back up requests let us know.
I love how “Real” you are, thanks for sharing your beautiful home and giving us inspiration for our own, but also thanks for showing us what a happy home with children looks like…. its always messy!!!
I totally love your blog ! You have me laughing all the way through most blog posts , especially the “things my boys get up to” kind. I have 2 grown children and am a Grandmother BUT I had a baby in my middle forties – yep you heard that right I have a little boy who is now 7 and although I don’t have THREE boys (3 times the fun right ?) Well anyway I don’t feel bad now seeing your living room “spoof” pics – heck my house looks like that often (yes excluding Saturday’s) and believe me I am a type A personality like you but no sooner have I cleaned up……………….. but boy oh boy I LOVE my little guy and can’t imagine my life without him so I’m happy to put up with the mess for next few (decades ?) .
Love your constant updates on Facebook .
Sandra